Resumen de Gender differences in the person-activity fit for positive psychology interventions

R. Bruce Thompson, Christine Peura, William F. Gayton

• Research on positive psychology interventions (PPIs) has established the value of activities such as acts of kindness, gratitude, and savoring life�s joys, for increasing individuals� sense of well-being. Critical to the efficacy of PPIs is person-activity fit � the degree activities stem from intrinsic motivation. Although person-activity fit effects are well documented, gaps remain in our understanding of how sociodemographic variables, particularly age and gender, play a role. We investigated how gender may affect self-reported person-activity fit across three PPIs: A gratitude journal; Acts of Kindness; and Savoring life�s joys. Age was explored since the subject sample ranged widely, from 18 to 51?years. Twenty-eight men and 82 women completed person-activity fit questionnaires. A multiple analysis of variance resulted in a main effect for gender, with women showing greater person-activity fit for all three PPIs. Among women only, age correlated significantly with person-activity fit for all three PPIs, suggesting greater maturational variability among men.